Fly, Fly Away
by Anoron
Summary: LOTR/Moulin Rouge crossover. Pre-Fellowship, post MR storyline. Legolas is injured hunting and finds himself trapped in the shadow world of the MR, where he meets Satine, once the Sparkling Diamond.*COMPLETE*


DISCLAIMER: JRR Tolkien owns Legolas and everything else concerned with Middle-Earth, Baz Luhrmann owns Satine and everything to do with Moulin Rouge. My first fanfic, came from too much LOTR & too much Moulin Rouge. Set way after Moulin Rouge, but about a decade or so before the start of FOTR Song lyrics set between * *  
  
Fly, Fly Away  
  
*************  
  
Thranduil sat by the bed, his head in his hands.  
"I'm sorry, Thranduil," Elrond said gently. "I have done all I can, but now we must wait. Only Legolas can will himself to wake now. His spirit must return to his body of its own accord."  
Legolas was laying with his eyes closed. He heard his father sobbing, but the sounds sounded so faint, so far away. It was like his entire life was a strange, distant dream, something he had gone through but never really touched, never fully experienced.  
He opened his eyes, then blinked, trying to remember where he was supposed to be. Then it all came rushing back to him: hunting with Aragorn and the sons of Elrond, the Orc-raid, throwing himself in front of an Orc-blade that was meant to kill the heir to the throne of Gondor, a biting sensation in his side, and then nothing. Blackness. He thought he heard his father's voice calling him back, but it faded away as quickly as it came.  
He looked around at his settings and frowned. Everything was a dirty grey except for himself, still in his green tunic and leggings from hunting, and he was standing in a deserted courtyard at the base of a great... something. Legolas looked up, it was similar to an Ouliphant, but it only had two tusks, and was not a statue as he'd originally thought, but a building. An Elephant building.  
A sweet, pathetic voice was coming from within the Elephant. It was a woman, Legolas realised, and she was singing. He arced his neck back to see, and caught sight of a flash of the most brilliant red he had ever seen. It almost glowed in the grey surroundings. It was her, the woman. Her flowing red hair was almost as deep as her crimson dress. He smiled sadly as he listened to her words.  
  
*I follow the night, can't stand the light,  
When will I begin to live again?  
One day I'll fly away, leave all this to yesterday,  
What more could your love do for me?  
When will love be though with me?  
Why live life from dream to dream  
And dread the day when dreaming ends?*  
  
From behind him, Legolas was sure he heard a phantom voice returning with his own fragment of song:  
  
*How wonderful life is, now you're in the world....*  
  
The woman appeared to be listening for the voice, but from her crestfallen expression, Legolas could tell she hadn't heard it. She began to move up a staircase, coming out on top of the building, and Legolas, as if drawn by some unseen force, followed her.  
  
*One day I'll fly away, leave all this to yesterday,  
Why live life from dream to dream  
And dread the day when dreaming ends?  
One day I'll fly away, fly, fly away.*  
  
She turned and saw deep green standing out in the gloom. She gasped as she recognised it was a person. "You shouldn't be here," she breathed.  
Legolas regarded her strangely. "I know not how I came to be here. I am Legolas, son of Thranduil, Prince of the Northern Mirkwood. And you are, my Lady?"  
The woman appeared saddened by the question. "Once, I was the Sparkling Diamond. Now, I am only Satine."  
"Vanimle am'silo tiri, Satine," Legolas breathed.   
Satine laughed. She had no idea what he'd just said, but the courtesan in her instinctively reacted to his words. From his tone, she thought it must have been some complement, some assurance that she still sparkled. She looked out into the gloom. She no longer had need of her precious diamonds, their sparkling was nothing to her now. Not without him.  
Legolas refocused himself. He realised there was no bow in his hand, no quiver, and no sheathed knives attached to his back. Being weaponless in a strange land unsettled him momentarily, but he quickly calmed himself. He felt that no harm could come to him here. Wherever here was.  
"Satine, where are we?"  
She stood on the head of the Elephant. She had been afraid to do that before. To fall would mean certain death, and those were not the type of risks she had chosen to take. Senseless actions in the name of freedom. Now it mattered not if she fell. Her gaze swept out over the ghostly land as if in her heart she could see it as the spectacular underworld it had once been. "The Moulin Rouge, my home. The Moulin Rouge is my home," she repeated, as if she had to make herself believe the words.  
"You... you live here?" Legolas asked softly. He couldn't imagine anyone living in so desolate a place.  
"All my life, or so it seems. And even now..." she trailed off and shook her head. Even now she remained, long after they'd all moved on. She'd seen them all only once more after that fateful night. They had passed through on their way to the place she had yet to reach. Harold, Marie, the Unconscious Argentinean, the Diamond Dogs, Babydoll, Tolouse, Chocolat, and even the Duke had come and gone with pitying glances. But not him. She was still waiting for him. When he came she could follow the others. She could fly away.  
Legolas was studying her intently. What did she mean, all her life and even now? His eyes widened as the realisation hit him.  
"Of course," Satine replied, as if he had spoken aloud. She waved her hand out at their surroundings. "Did you think the waking world would suffer to pass in the shadows like this?"  
"Satine..." Legolas murmured. His heart broke for her. Suddenly, he felt a sharp twinge in his side. He gasped and covered it with his hand, doubling over. Satine looked at him, alarmed. Around them, the Moulin Rouge flickered in and out of colour. The reds and blues that the world had exploded into, almost lost in Satine's memories, all but blinded them. A fast beat thundered around them, and what seemed like hundreds of phantom male voices were chanting:  
  
*Here we are now, entertain us.  
We feel stupid and contagious,  
Here we are now, entertain us.*  
  
And below them, the courtyard was alive once more. Blurs of colour whirled around each other to the beat, ruffling skirts with glimpses of pink skin here and there, interrupted by the stark black of tuxedos weaving in between them. The vivid images of her life caused Satine to stare down in shock. How had this happened? Was she to be freed, then? Had he come for her?  
Almost as soon as it had begun, it was over. The pain subsided for Legolas, and he straightened to look out at the courtyard, now eerily quiet again.  
  
*********  
  
Thranduil sat forward in anticipation. Legolas had twitched in his coma, muttered something and clutched at his wound for a split second. The King waited a few more seconds, but nothing else happened. Legolas remained dormant.  
Thranduil's face fell, and he slumped back in his seat.  
Behind him, Elrond exchanged cautiously hopeful glances with the three sons of his heart.  
"Satine?" Aragorn murmured to his brothers. Had he heard right?  
  
*********  
  
A tear slid unchecked down Satine's cheek. She didn't want to go back to that time, didn't want to be a courtesan any more. The lies had hurt her too much in the end. But she would suffer it all over again, if it meant that he would come into her world to sweep her off her feet once more.  
"Who was he?" Legolas asked. He could see it in her eyes- it was the same bittersweet look that he had often caught in Aragorn's eyes when he thought of Arwen, and vice versa. The look that intrigued him so much, the one he had never had himself.  
Satine was caught off guard by the question. How could he have possibly known? She stared up at him and Legolas gently repeated himself.  
"Who was he?"  
"Christian."  
The way she said the simple name made her eyes bluer, or so Legolas thought. There was something about her pain, about her, that entranced him. She caught him staring at her and turned her gaze away.  
She winced when she found her eyes boring straight into an old room at the Chambres a la Journee that she knew all too well. His room. The Elf caught her reaction upon seeing the room and knew instinctively what it had to be. He followed her gaze, his eyes seeing more easily than hers, and scanned the room. It was bare, but for a bed, and an old table with a rickety chair. Just outside the wide-ledged window, on a hook, hung an old wire bird cage. Peering a little closer, Legolas noticed that, low in the bottom of the cage, was the tiny skeleton of a bird.  
"One day I'll fly away," he murmured under his breath, looking between the skeleton and Satine. He hoped with all his heart that Satine would be more successful than her withered friend.  
She gave him a tight smile and led him inside the Elephant, to her old room. She sat on the bed, momentarily lost in her memories of Christian. Legolas stood by the archway, a little uncomfortable to be in what was obviously the Lady's personal chambers. But soon enough his curiosity overcame him and he crept closer to the bed.  
Satine appeared to be ignoring him, and did not protest, so he sat awkwardly beside her. He steeled himself and asked, "Where is he now?"  
Satine came out of her reverie and bit her lip. She got up and began to pace the room, not sure if she wanted to speak openly of her life to this dashing stranger. But she looked down at his face and faltered. He was strange to her. Old, centuries, millennia even, but still so young. His eyes were so open, honest, and betrayed every feeling he had before he was even aware of feeling it himself, and there was a sweetness to him that could only come from an existence of naiveté and a world of innocence.  
She sighed and began their story: a story of truth, freedom, beauty, and above all things, a story about love.  
Satine smiled at the memory of mistaking a handsome young bohemian writer for a Duke. That innocent mistake had torn apart every belief she'd ever had about herself and her life until that point, but she wouldn't have it any other way.  
Christian had sung to her in the very room they were now in, and Satine's whole face lit up as she described the sensation so that Legolas could see two beautiful young figures sweeping around the room.  
  
*And you can tell everybody this is your song  
It may be quite simple, but now that it's done  
Hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind  
That I put down in words  
How wonderful life is now you're in the world*  
  
Legolas frowned and looked down at himself. Blood had seeped through and stained his tunic where he had felt the sharp pain earlier, but no wound marred his skin. Satine's face had dulled again as she continued her story, and Legolas watched in fascination as the bloodstain faded away.  
  
************  
  
Elrond moved forward with a frown. Fresh blood was staining the bandages covering Legolas' wound. He deftly stepped around Thranduil's chair and set to work.  
The soiled bandages were instantly removed so Elrond could inspect the new damage. His frown deepened. There was no new damage. The wound was no longer even weeping. In fact, if it was not for the bloodstained cloth lying beside him, Elrond would be sure Legolas' condition had not altered in the least.  
Before he had even to ask, Elladan stepped forward with a fresh bandage. Elrond accepted the fabric from his son with a grateful nod and began to redress the wound.  
In the background, Aragorn and Elrohir were frowning at each other in confusion and worry.  
  
**********  
  
"I fell in love," Satine admitted quietly. She tossed a half-smile in Legolas' direction. "How could I not?"  
Legolas gave a small, noncommittal smile by way of response. How could he possibly understand that question? He'd never known love.  
So Christian had been hired to write the first, and only play the Moulin Rouge would ever produce. The play of which the Duke was financier. Legolas was entranced by Satine the moment she started to speak. At first, the story of Satine and Christian was a sweet tale, full of passionate words and clandestine meetings in the shadows, but a scowl soon consumed Satine's wistfully nostalgic expression.  
The Duke was not one to be denied. He was rich, he was powerful, and he would have what he wanted at any cost. And he wanted Satine. Of course, Satine had been urged by Harold to break it off with Christian for the good of them all, and Satine had tried. But she was not strong enough to deny love once she believed in it.  
Satine took Legolas' hand and pulled him to his feet. She led him out to stand on the balcony of her Elephant room. From there they could see the entire city.  
Christian had once again shown Satine the strength of their love, and she had stayed with him, until the day their affair was exposed to the Duke. The play Christian was writing was very much a case of art imitating life, and in a moment of blind passion over artistic, Christian had slipped up.  
"She doesn't love you!" the writer screamed at the Duke. The very air stood still for a second that lasted an eternity, and though Christian fumbled to rectify his crucial mistake, it was too late.  
The Duke had seen the look in the young lovers' eyes, and he knew.  
Satine did the only thing she could do. She betrayed her heart and offered herself to the Duke to abate his anger. She rendezvoused in the Gothic tower with the Duke to bargain for her friends' jobs, and her lover's life.  
Christian had not taken it well, his jealousy nearly consumed him.  
  
*Why does my heart cry? Feelings I can't fight  
You're free to leave me but just don't deceive me  
And please believe me when I say  
I love you*  
  
Legolas scowled to himself as he heard the phantom voice, thick with bitterness. He did not appreciate the jealousy of the young man. Satine had sacrificed her body and her heart to pay for his mistake, and he had the audacity to blame her for it, he marvelled. Legolas was almost convinced that Christian did not deserve Satine when the sweetest voice ever to be heard reminded him that love bound the pair together.  
  
*Come what may,  
I will love you,  
Till my dying day.*  
  
Legolas stared across the city to the Gothic Tower, dark and foreboding before them. On one of the balconies he could see a shimmer of a woman with crimson hair, deep in lament for her love.  
Satine grimly recounted her encounter with the Duke. He would have taken her against her will if it had not been for Chocolat's rescue. Legolas dared feel the barest glimmer of hope for Satine and Christian, against all sense, when she told him of their plans to run from the Moulin Rouge that very night.  
But it was all a dream. Harold and Marie found Satine before she could make her escape, they told her she was dying. Legolas squeezed his eyes shut tight. Even though he knew it had happened so long ago, he couldn't bear the thought of this Sparkling Diamond having to wither and die as any common mortal. She was far too special for that. Satine was dying, and the Duke had ordered Christian's murder.  
"Only I could save him. Hurt him, hurt him to save him," Satine remembered. She turned to the stairs and made her way on top of the Elephant once more, Legolas fast on her heels. Unsteady colour had crept over the Moulin Rouge again and they could hear Satine's voice, thick with tears and despair.  
  
*Today's a day when dreaming ends*  
  
Legolas felt a tear slide down his cheek. He cried out in pain as a knife was embedded deep in his side.  
  
***********  
  
The five men jumped as Legolas suddenly yelled out. His face contorted as if in fresh pain and a silver tear squeezed out from under his closed eyelid. They watched as it slid down his face and dripped from his chin.  
  
*************  
  
Gasping for air, Legolas doubled over. As the world plunged into dirty grey once more, relief came to him. An elegant hand rested on his arm and he stared at it for the longest moment. It was so soft and smooth and white.  
"Are you all right?" Satine asked softly.  
"Yes," Legolas breathed as he straightened once more. The knife was gone. "What happened next, Satine?" he prodded, curiosity burning within him.  
She smiled humourlessly. "I did it. I hurt him to save him. But he didn't go, he fought for me one last time. He stormed into the Moulin Rouge during the performance and confronted me. We ended up on the stage together, in front of everyone, with me begging for forgiveness. The Duke was there, he was watching but I didn't care anymore, Christian had finally taught me; love is like oxygen, love is a many splendoured thing, love lifts us up where we belong, all you need is love, and I wanted him to know. That I understood. That I loved him. He was my everything."  
"Did he forgive you? Were you together again?" Legolas asked in a breathless whisper. Her tale had him mesmerised and he was hanging on her every word.  
"Yes, we were. Unfortunately for us, I died ten minutes later."  
Satine looked up at Legolas and he could see her heartbreak, her regret at the time to spend with her love that she had lost. His heart burst and he was swept away in a torrent of emotion.  
Legolas pulled Satine into his arms and kissed her. For a split second, the once-courtesan was swept away in the passion, but, feeling wrong, as if she was betraying her love, she pulled away.  
"No," she murmured.  
Legolas felt a blush of shame and hurt at her rejection staining his cheeks. He loved her, this vibrant, pathetic creature, he knew that. But she did not love him.  
"Christian," Satine whispered by way of explanation. The pain in her eyes as she said his name almost killed Legolas.  
With all the impetuousness of youth and unrequited love, he angered. "You will wait for him still? Satine, you may wait forever!"  
"Perhaps," she returned in a voice that did not falter. "And I will not regret a moment I wait for him. I have too much to regret from my time with Christian while I lived, and if this is my fate, to wait for him forever, I will give him my eternity. I owe that much to him, and to myself."  
Legolas felt his heart breaking at the thought of Satine staying in this dead world alone forever. The world shifted into colour again, but this time it did not flicker. It was steady. Legolas sensed himself fading, as if his essence was being drained out of him to some faraway place. He knew he would never find his way back to Satine. Tears welled in his eyes. "Satine..."  
She sensed what was happening, as well. Tears formed in her eyes to match his. She stood by her decision to honour her love for Christian, even if it meant she would never fly away as she had dreamed for so long, but she had to admit she was afraid. She would miss the naive Elf, the most beautiful thing she had lain eyes on since she had died, and a part of her knew there was a possibility that he was the last chance she would have to know beauty in her world.  
"Legolas, I'm sorry," she said quietly. "Go back to your life, young Prince, and remember me."  
"I will never forget you, my Sparkling Diamond," Legolas swore and closed his eyes.  
  
*************  
  
Thranduil grabbed his son's hands. Legolas' jaw was clenched, his brow furrowed. Life was returning to his body with every passing second.  
Aragorn could've sworn he heard his friend mutter something in his unconscious state about a sparkling diamond, as he crept closer to the bed with his brothers.  
Suddenly, Legolas gasped and his eyes sprang open. Thranduil slid off his chair to his knees to be closer to the bed. Elrond hovered worriedly behind him.  
Legolas was breathing heavily as he looked around, adjusting his sight to his surroundings. He was home. He squeezed his eyes shut tight for a second, willing himself not to cry in front of the others in the room: his friends and family.  
'Namaarie, amin tintien mir,' his heart whispered to Satine, somehow knowing she would hear and understand him through all the time and space between them.   
He opened his eyes and smiled weakly up at his father.  
  
***********  
  
Satine smiled sadly to herself. She heard the farewell Legolas had sent to her heart as she made her way into the hall of the Moulin Rouge. She waved her hand through the cobwebs in her path and stood on the stage. It was set up exactly the way it had been for the one and only performance of 'Spectacular, Spectacular', only grey and covered in dust, as everything now was.  
Satine closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and began to sing:  
  
*Never knew I could feel like this,  
It's like I've never seen the sky before.  
Want to vanish inside your kiss,  
Every day I'm loving you more and more.  
Listen to my heart: can you hear it sing?  
Come back to me and forgive everything.  
Season's may change, winter to spring,  
I love you...  
Till the end of time.*  
  
Too long had she heard only deafening silence in response to her plea for Christian's love, but now, as she opened her eyes and looked, the world was in colour again. The Moulin Rouge was alive. She gasped when she saw an all-too-familiar figure standing in the aisle.  
  
*Come what may, come what may,  
Come what may, come what may*  
  
Satine recovered from her shock well enough to echo Christian's words as he made his way down the aisle to her.  
  
*Come what may....  
I will love you until my dying day....*  
  
Satine began to cry with happiness as she felt Christian's arms circling around her. She reached up and tentatively stroked his cheek. She giggled and broke in with a line from the song he'd sung to her on the night they'd first met. A song that had made her fall in love with him.  
  
*How wonderful life is, now you're in the world.*  
  
Christian smiled and kissed Satine with a passion that could only come from a lifetime of longing and separation. They broke their kiss and turned to look out the doors. Sunlight was streaming in on them.  
"Shall we fly away now, darling?" Christian asked.  
Without a moment's hesitation, Satine accepted her lover's outstretched hand and they made their way towards the exit.  
Hand in hand, they walked out into the light. 


End file.
